The Harbour at 5 PM

The Harbour at 5 PM no 3 panel 2

The Harbour at 5 PM no 3 panel 3

The Harbour at 5 PM no 3 panel 4

Ole Tersløse

About ”the harbour at 5 pm” How do we know a dream is just a dream? The question is almost impossible to answer, and that is probably one of the reasons that the distinction b tween real and dream has always fascinated us . The dream is so close to reality that we almost believe in it , but it can , paradoxically, always be decoded as “non-reali ty”. I t is the same that characterizes Ole Tersløse’s image series “The Har- bour a t 5 PM”, which he shows in its entire ty for the first time a t his upcoming solo-show a t Galerie Provence in Vadum . Nobody doubts that the images show constructed scenes , but it can be difficul t to pin-point why we do not believe the illusion. The last few years Ole Tersløse , who originally was a painter, has mainly worked with 3D visualizations on the computer. The computer applications , which are also used in the film industry to create visual effects , have to create as credible results as possible . However, in his new series Ole Tersløse does no t create the perfect illusion . He , so to speak , stops midway. The harbour setting , which it the common theme o f the series , lack details and seems like artificial set pieces . That’s one of the explana tions why what Ole shows us does no t seem “qui te Ano ther explanation is that the depic ted people do a number o f absurd and poin tless ac ts . A naked man fishes down a sewer, while another person lies on his back with a wide open mouth and lets a seagull re- gurgitate food into his gaping mouth. At five PM the workday is over and we en ter an existential no man’s land before the calm o f the evening descends upon us . We have a short break where we “have no thing to do”, bu t all the same are no t tired enough to res t . In this break i t is accep table to dream and per form nonsense ri tuals . In Ole Tersløse’s image world you can place a me tal dolphin on your back and spiri t yoursel f away to a dis tan t coas t beyond the horizon . All this could ac tually be done in “ the real world” bu t do we “really” want to? The firs t image in the series “The Harbour a t 5 PM” was shows a t the moving exhibi tion “A f ter Surrealism”. As this ti tle sug- ges t , the show aimed to illumina te how surreal elemen ts s till live on in con temporary visual ar t . The series: “The Harbour a t 5 PM” can, with its empty spaces, long shadows in the late afternoon- ligh t , and the clearly drawn con tours , remind you o f Giorgio de Chirico’s works which are generally regarded as precursors o f surrealism . However, Ole Tersløse’s digi tally genera ted images also have clear re ferences to the o f ten carica tured realism o f compu ter No thing is qui te where i t should be in Tersløse’s imagery. I t’s no t qui te dream and no t qui te reali ty. Pas t tradi tions o f pain ting in ter twine wi th con temporary ground-breaking image technology. The persons in the images do s trange things and make odd signs , and you may ask more than once what the meaning of it all is. Maybe the “meaning” is that we for a short while should enjoy the ab- sence o f meaning . 5 o’clock in the a f ternoon a t the emp ty harbor when the ferry has depar ted , when i t is too early to go home and too la te to s tay; i t is the mos t meaningless time o f day and in li fe in general . Somehow we en tered the world on the wrong foo ting and this gives us some space around us for a shor t while . And because we for this shor t while don’t have anything to do we are in a position to sense the mar- vels of the world and the richness of simply being.

The Harbour at 5 PM

The Harbour at 5 PM no 3 panel 1

The Harbour at 5 PM no 3 panel 2

The Harbour at 5 PM no 3 panel 3

The Harbour at 5 PM no 3 panel 4

Ole Tersløse

About ”the harbour at 5 pm” How do we know a dream is just a dream? The question is almost impossible to answer, and that is probably one of the reasons that the distinction b tween real and dream has always fascinated us . The dream is so close to reality that we almost believe in it , but it can , paradoxically, always be decoded as “non-reali ty”. I t is the same that characterizes Ole Tersløse’s image series “The Har- bour a t 5 PM”, which he shows in its entire ty for the first time a t his upcoming solo-show a t Galerie Provence in Vadum . Nobody doubts that the images show constructed scenes , but it can be difficul t to pin-point why we do not believe the illusion. The last few years Ole Tersløse , who originally was a painter, has mainly worked with 3D visualizations on the computer. The computer applications , which are also used in the film industry to create visual effects , have to create as credible results as possible . However, in his new series Ole Tersløse does no t create the perfect illusion . He , so to speak , stops midway. The harbour setting , which it the common theme o f the series , lack details and seems like artificial set pieces . That’s one of the explana tions why what Ole shows us does no t seem “qui te Ano ther explanation is that the depic ted people do a number o f absurd and poin tless ac ts . A naked man fishes down a sewer, while another person lies on his back with a wide open mouth and lets a seagull re- gurgitate food into his gaping mouth. At five PM the workday is over and we en ter an existential no man’s land before the calm o f the evening descends upon us . We have a short break where we “have no thing to do”, bu t all the same are no t tired enough to res t . In this break i t is accep table to dream and per form nonsense ri tuals . In Ole Tersløse’s image world you can place a me tal dolphin on your back and spiri t yoursel f away to a dis tan t coas t beyond the horizon . All this could ac tually be done in “ the real world” bu t do we “really” want to? The firs t image in the series “The Harbour a t 5 PM” was shows a t the moving exhibi tion “A f ter Surrealism”. As this ti tle sug- ges t , the show aimed to illumina te how surreal elemen ts s till live on in con temporary visual ar t . The series: “The Harbour a t 5 PM” can, with its empty spaces, long shadows in the late afternoon- ligh t , and the clearly drawn con tours , remind you o f Giorgio de Chirico’s works which are generally regarded as precursors o f surrealism . However, Ole Tersløse’s digi tally genera ted images also have clear re ferences to the o f ten carica tured realism o f compu ter No thing is qui te where i t should be in Tersløse’s imagery. I t’s no t qui te dream and no t qui te reali ty. Pas t tradi tions o f pain ting in ter twine wi th con temporary ground-breaking image technology. The persons in the images do s trange things and make odd signs , and you may ask more than once what the meaning of it all is. Maybe the “meaning” is that we for a short while should enjoy the ab- sence o f meaning . 5 o’clock in the a f ternoon a t the emp ty harbor when the ferry has depar ted , when i t is too early to go home and too la te to s tay; i t is the mos t meaningless time o f day and in li fe in general . Somehow we en tered the world on the wrong foo ting and this gives us some space around us for a shor t while . And because we for this shor t while don’t have anything to do we are in a position to sense the mar- vels of the world and the richness of simply being.